Harnessing the power of Project Management

www.truesolutions.com

GETTING

GIVING

THE MOST

FROM YOUR PEOPLETHE MOST TO

YOUR CUSTOMERS

HARNESSING THE POWER OF

MANAGEMENTPROJECT

PMO View From Cruising Altitude

Harnessing the Power of Project Management

Learn how your organization

can move from:

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Flat to extraordinary

♦

Cost center to profit center

♦

Over‐staffed to lean

♦

Over‐budget to cost effective

♦

Sales slump to sales goals

Harnessing the Power of Project Management

© 2011 Wes Balakian, PMP   

CEO True Solutions Inc.

♦

Improve business results

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Maximize profitability in any economy

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Increase productivity without capital 

investment

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Expand human capital effectiveness

♦

Excel at customer satisfaction

♦

Deploy effective, results‐driven 

business processes

How you or your company will benefit 

from this:

Working in a Change‐Centric World

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Corporate globalization♦

Multinational products

♦

Cultural differences and needs

♦

Maturing of project management as a function and

a profession

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Productivity and efficiency demands♦

“Do more with less”

♦

Mergers and acquisitions

♦

Flatter, leaner organizational structure

♦

Team environment

“I need it yesterday”

mentality – the new REALITY!

Business partner

Consultants

• What holds them together?

• What makes them work?

• Who knows how to manage them?

Projects are how Organizations  Manage Change

Sales

Harnessing the Power of Project Management

♦

Part 1: Getting the Most from Project Management

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Part 2: Getting the Most from Your People

♦

Part 3: Giving the Most to Your Customers

Harnessing the Power of Project Management

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Part 1: Getting the most from Project Management

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Discovering a good thing in a bad economy

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How to solve the four biggest problems plaguing CEO’s

♦

Modern project management

Getting the Most from Project Management

Project Management is A Good Thing in a Bad Economy

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In an economic crisis, project management can fulfill its primary 

purpose: To put a viable, consistent system in place.

♦

Using proven methodologies allows you to predict project 

schedules, costs and requirements – this is vital when no 

organization can accommodate budget overruns or product 

delays.

♦

Competition in this economic climate requires optimum 

performance and measurable results. Project management can 

provide those things to allow success even in difficult times.

Getting the Most from Project Management

Solve the Four Biggest Problems Plaguing CEO’s

1.

Failing to deliver on time

2.

Not enough sales

3.

Failing to hire & retain talent

4.

Failing at managing change

Successful CEO’s realize 

that regardless of the 

economy at a given time,

Project Management is 

indispensable.

Getting the Most from Project Management

Modern Project Management

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Predictable results 

♦

Repeatable delivery times, and budgets

♦

Scalable delivery models 

♦

Consistency in project deliverables 

♦

Business acumen 

VALUEPROJECT

MANAGEMENT TRAINING

SKILLS TRAINING

LEADERSHIP TRAINING

Value Delivers Results

Value Delivers Results

DELIVERSREPEATABLE

BUSINESS PROCESSES

COMMUNITY TRANSFORMATION

BUSINESS PROCESS OPTIMIZATION

Value Delivers Results

Value Delivers Results

RESULTS

CORPORATE STRATEGY

CORPORATE GOALS

STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT

Value Delivers Results

VALUE

Value Delivers Results

DELIVERSPROJECT

MANAGEMENT TRAINING

SKILLS TRAINING

LEADERSHIP TRAINING

REPEATABLE BUSINESS PROCESS

COMMUNITY TRANSFORMATION

BUSINESS PROCESS OPTIMIZATION

RESULTS

CORPORATE STRATEGY

CORPORATE GOALS

STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT

EQUALS

SUSTAINABLE SCALABLE

REPEATABLE PREDICTABLE

INSTITUTIONALIZATION CULTURE CHANGE

BUSINESS SUCCESS

Value Delivers Results

Getting the Most from Project Management

How do you determine where you or your organization is regarding:

1. Capabilities

2. Skills

3. Maturity

4. Experience

5. Knowledge

6. Application

7. Comparison with your competition

Training Needs Assessment

Project Characteristics Most Important  Second most 

importantThird most important Fourth most 

importantFifth most important

1. Very large 

project (large 

scope)

Leadership Relevant prior 

experience

Planning People 

Skills

Verbal 

Communication

Strong at 

building teams

2. A project with 

high uncertainty

Risk 

Management

Expectation 

Management

Leadership People 

Skills

Planning

3. A very novel 

project; 

considerable 

innovation 

required

Leadership People Skills Has vision, 

purpose, goals

Self 

Confidence

Expectation 

ManagementListening

Project Management Skill and Competencies in the context 

of a Project Characteristic

Harnessing the Power of Project Management

♦

Part 2: Getting the most from your people

♦

The CERT‐ified

Art of Communication

♦

The Path to Heaven is Paved with Good Retention

♦

The Stuff Dream Teams are Made of

♦

Handling Human Capital and Re‐Sourcing Your Success

C.E.R.T. Intelligence:

Many, if not all, projects are global. 

Why is it so important 

to have CERT‐Intelligence? 

Collaboration

Management

EmotionalEmotional

TacticalTacticalRelationshipRelationship

CulturalCultural

Success

Opportunity

C.E.R.T. Intelligence: Cultural

EmotionalEmotional

TacticalTacticalRelationshipRelationship

CulturalCultural

Collaboration

Management

ProjectsProjects

Success

Opportunity

Barriers to Cultural Intelligence

10. 

9.

8.

7.

6.

Language differences

Time zone disparities

Lack of training on managing effective virtual teams

How technology can help OR hurt

Misunderstood personalities / emotions / social and business norms

Barriers to Cultural Intelligence

5. 

4.

Team members who are unsure of specific expectations

Lack of awareness of cultural differences

–

ignorance is NOT bliss in the customer’s eyes!

Vague or inconsistent understanding of project goals / charter

Teams without cohesion / focus

3.

2.

1. COMMUNICATIONS!

Getting the Most From Your People

CulturalCultural

RelationshipRelationship TacticalTactical

EmotionalEmotional

The CERT‐ified

Art of Communication

Idea Encoding

IdeaEncoding

Decoding Meaning

DecodingMeaning

Sender Receiver

Sources of Perceptual Differences

CommunicationsCommunications

CommunicationsCommunications

Idea Encoding

IdeaEncoding

Decoding Meaning

DecodingMeaning

Sender Receiver

Distraction/Perceptual Differences

Message(initiated)

Message(feedback)

Distraction/Perceptual Differences

Shared Experiences

Field of Experience Field of Experience

Sources of Perceptual DifferencesValues

PersonalitiesWords

Judgments

Emotional Intelligence: Leadership

♦

Maintain a clear vision that encourages people to align with 

you

♦

Create an environment where people want to be responsible

♦

Clearly describe what is necessary for “quality”

performance

♦

Transfer responsibility to the people who do the work

♦

Set an example and challenge people to continually learn

Relationship Intelligence: Interaction!

Relationship Intelligence empowers professionals to uncover, extend and leverage 

their relationships –

commonly called “networks”.

Relationships include:

♦

You and management

♦

You and your team

♦

You and other managers, suppliers 

and stakeholders

♦

You and your friends, family and 

acquaintances

RI is a corporation‐wide asset that 

reveals complex connections between:

♦ People and companies

♦ Experience and expertise

RI transforms who and what we know, 

into new revenue opportunities!

An organization’s most valuable assets are the relationships

it nurtures with clients 

and contacts.

C.E.R.T. Intelligence: Tactical

EmotionalEmotional

TacticalTacticalRelationshipRelationship

CulturalCultural

Collaboration

Management

ProjectsProjects

Success

Opportunity

C.E.R.T. Intelligence: Tactical 

Tactical Intelligence is the Art and Science of determining 

what the opposition is doing, or might

do, to prevent the 

accomplishment of your mission/objective.

♦

How things “get done”

–

or don’t! 

♦

The process behind meeting the objectives of a project

♦

The actual work required to go from “as is,”

to “to be”

‐

in 

other words, from “idea”

to “invoice”

♦

Knowing what

your team needs, why

they need it, and when

they need it, to keep the project moving.

CERT‐Intelligence: Now you have it!

If you don’t cultivate an astute sense of awareness and 

appreciation for other cultures and their attitudes, behaviors, 

and beliefs, you could end up jeopardizing your chance for cross

cultural success – a dangerously high risk in a global world.

Without a clear vision and a strong sense of emotional 

leadership – which comes from having a well‐honed emotional 

intelligence – your team isn’t going to follow you.

Your organization’s most valuable assets are the relationships 

you nurture and maintain with your clients and contacts. That’s 

the reason knowing how to handle these all‐important 

relationships is key to your success.

Tactical intelligence is pretty basic: “You know what you need 

to get done; now do it.”

You put your vision to action and make 

sure your people are doing what they’re supposed to do.

The Importance of:

Cultural Intelligence

Tactical Intelligence

Relationship Intelligence

Emotional Intelligence

Getting the Most from Your People

The Path to Heaven is Paved with Good Retention

♦

Hire the best♦

Have multiple people involved in hiring decisions

♦

Define roles and responsibilities 

♦

Provide a vision of current and future opportunities

♦

Retain proven talent♦

Clear role delineation

♦

Map out a clear career path

♦

Motivate your assets

♦

Invest in their success

♦

Create environments where they can thrive

Getting the Most from Your People

Handling Human Capital and Re‐Sourcing your Success

♦

Resource Optimization

The purpose of planning is 

to understand what your 

resources are, how you can 

best use those resources, 

and when you ought to do 

it. 

♦

Resource Automation

♦

Have a system to track your 

resources optimization

♦

Invent an inventory of skill sets

♦

Responsibilities matrix

♦

Measure and control these 

assets

Harnessing the Power of Project Management

♦

Part 3: Giving the most to your Customers

♦

Back to Basics:  Increasing Sales

♦

The Secret of Becoming Slim & Trim:   Shortening Delivery Times

♦

At Face Value:  Improving Customer Satisfaction

♦

An Involved Customer is a Happy Customer

Giving the Most to Your Customers

Back to Basics: Increasing Sales

♦

People buy what they are confident of

♦

People buy from whom they trust 

♦

People buy based on successful relationships

♦

People buy created value, not added value

♦

People buy a “No Excuses”

approach

Giving the Most to Your Customers

The Secret to Slim and Trim: Shortening Delivery Times

♦

Eliminate bottlenecks

♦

Simplify complex 

processes

♦

Resolve unproductive 

supplier relations

♦

Develop valid 

performance metrics

Accelerating your 

order‐to‐delivery cycle is 

primarily a question of turning 

a critical eye on your 

organizational processes, and 

identifying points of waste, 

back‐up, and inefficiency.

Giving the Most to Your Customers

At Face Value: Improving Customer Satisfaction

Manage Satisfaction Shortcomings:

♦

Face‐to‐face interaction

♦

Friendliness and approachability

♦

Responding promptly

Customer Satisfaction 101:

1.Put a clear customer service 

policy in place

2.Anticipate customer needs

3.Deliver on your promises

Giving the Most to Your Customers

An Involved Customer is a Happy Customer

♦

Involve your customers in the process of delivering quality to 

them

♦

Remember the value of the worker‐bee

♦

Value objective reviews of your organization’s practices

♦

Remember that you, your customer, other service providers 

and their clients are business partners

Harnessing the Power of Project Management

♦

Project Management works across all industries, across the 

globe, and across economic tides.

♦

Project management equips you with all the tools you need, 

to steer your company toward phenomenal success.

Harnessing the Power of Project Management

www.truesolutions.com

1.866.770.0903 or 972.770.0900

Wes.Balakian@truesolutions.com

or 

Info@truesolutions.com

Current State

Analyze & Benchmark

OrganizationalImplementation

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Define

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Control

Improve Measure

C.E.R.T. Intelligence: A Management Tool

Pipeline Bookings

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CustomerSatisfaction

Cost and Hours: • Billable • Non-BillableMargin

Backlog

At Risk

Billing

Unbilled

Revenue

Write-Offs

ADR

Headcount• Pyramid• Billable vs.

Non-Billable

Training

Utilization

Workforce Planning (Skills)

Hiring

ExternalResource Usage

Attrition

Resource Availability

Reuse Harvest

Best Practices Qualification

Revenue

Practice

People

KnowledgeMoney

Customers

Projects

Progress Status

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Issues

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